ULTRA-PRECISE VC GEOMETRY MACHINES OFFER HIGH CAPACITY AND REPEATABILITY

Latest news from Rotary Precision Instruments Uk

02/07/2007

Roundness machines with a load capacity of up to 11000 kg, combining ease of use and repeatability, are manufactured by a British company for shopfloor use in a wide range of metrology applications. Rotary Precision Instruments UK (RPI) supplies some of the world’s leading aerospace, automotive and power generation companies. It offers a range of system units, as well as bespoke designs, with positional accuracies better than one arc second. RPI’s vertical column (VC) units are combined with precision rotary table systems of up to 2000mm diameter for measurements including roundness, concentricity, parallelism and flatness. “The improved rigidity and elimination of vibration has increased confidence significantly in the measured results achieved, with the whole process becoming much more repeatable than other systems,” says James Dawson of RPI. “We have just completed the successful installation of five new VC geometry machines for the leading aero engine manufacturer in the United Kingdom, bringing the total number of new machines being used by this customer to seven. We have also received orders for Australia’s and Germany’s national carriers.” Column units are available with heights from 2000mm to 2650mm as standard, with measuring ranges up to 1915mm vertically and 1200mm horizontally. Features include a counterweighted linear bearing carriage travelling on a precision twin-rail; vertical and horizontal clamping for up to four probe arms; and three-axis articulators, providing a variety of gauge-head mounting options and four degrees of freedom, in addition to X-Y-Z micrometer adjusting stages, each within up to 80mm of travel on each stage. A metronics gauge check is used to collect data, with accumulated data being directly printed or collated and stored on a PC. A laser guide and laser mounting unit can be used as an alignment aid in conjunction with the gauge head on multiple-arm column units. The equipment is mounted on a purpose-cut granite base that is flat to within 25µm. The granite base has threaded inserts for fixing down in a column unit, table and tooling, and, with anti-vibration levelling pads, the base isolates the VC geometry machine from vibration and shopfloor noise. With the increased demand for the VC rotary table machine, the company is actively seeking representation by distributors and agents in different markets.